Chris Johnson hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning as Atlanta beat the New York Mets 4-1 on Wednesday after Braves outfielder Jason Heyward sustained a broken jaw when he was hit by a pitch.
Also in New York, Alfonso Soriano hit a tiebreaking two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning, while Ichiro Suzuki got his 4,000th hit between the major leagues and Japan as the Yankees downed the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2.
Atlanta got an RBI single from Freddie Freeman and another impressive start by rookie Alex Wood in splitting the two-game series for their 20th victory in 24 games. The Braves also benefited from a disputed call in the 10th.
Andrelton Simmons singled off Scott Atchison (3-2) with two outs and Freeman hit a two-strike grounder back toward the box that ticked off the bottom of Scott Rice’s glove and rolled behind him. The reliever retrieved the ball and fired to first, where Freeman was called safe.
Yankees pitcher David Huff (1-0) allowed one hit over five innings of relief to shut down the Blue Jays before New York finally got to Toronto’s R.A. Dickey.
The 39-year-old Suzuki hit a liner off Dickey (9-12) that bounced just beyond diving third baseman Brett Lawrie for the milestone hit in the first inning.
Suzuki broke a tie with Lou Gehrig when he got his 2,722nd major league hit in his 13th season. The speedy outfielder amassed 1,278 hits in nine seasons with Orix of Japan’s Pacific League.
Also in the American League, Torii Hunter hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and scored from second base on a passed ball to help the Detroit Tigers trounce the Minnesota Twins 7-1.
Drew Smyly (5-0) struck out two batters in a perfect inning in relief of Anibal Sanchez. Jose Veras entered with two outs in the eighth inning and closed the game for his first save with the Tigers.
In Arlington, Texas, Elvis Andrus hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth to hand the Rangers their major league-leading 40th comeback win of the season in a 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3, the Cleveland Indians downed the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 and the Chicago White Sox were 5-2 winners over the Kansas City Royals.
In the National League, Carlos Beltran and Allen Craig hit towering home runs in St Louis’ six-run second inning as the Cardinals held off the Milwaukee Brewers 8-6.
Matt Holliday also homered and Shane Robinson had three hits for the Cardinals, who are one game behind Pittsburgh in the NL Central Division race.
San Diego’s Ian Kennedy pitched seven strong innings, combining with two relievers on a four-hitter, as Yonder Alonso drove in two runs to push San Diego past Pittsburgh 2-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.
In other games, the Philadelphia Phillies edged the Colorado Rockies 4-3, the Los Angeles Dodgers downed the Florida Marlins 4-1, the Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-7 and the Washington Nationals defeated the Chicago Cubs 11-6.
In interleague play, Stephen Drew and Will Middlebrooks each hit a home run, while Jonny Gomes and Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove in two runs each as the Boston Red Sox crushed the Giants 12-1.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite